


Wash Day

by orphan_account



Category: Vinland Saga (Manga)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-14
Updated: 2010-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-11 02:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorfinn and Einar go to the river.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wash Day

"… and you know, it's almost a shame that we're cutting down all these fine trees. Back home, a forest like this, you'd let your pigs run in it, and get fat off the acorns. Get lots of deer too, and that meant venison along with your pork. Sure, wheat will feed you for longer, but there's really nothing like roast pork…"

Thorfinn usually disliked people who used too many words. But there was something so natural about Einar's chatter that it had taken some time for Thorfinn to realize that he should be annoyed. His talk wasn't intrusive or obnoxious; if anything, it made the work go faster.

Thorfinn paused for a moment, and looked at the sky. It was getting late in the day, and he could tell it would take another hour to fell this tree, and even longer to drag it to the river. Considering that, and considering what day it was…

"It's wash day," he said to Einar, dropping his axe. "Let's go to the river."

"Oh, so you do bathe here," Einar said, barely missing a beat. He set down his own axe and hurried down the path after Thorfinn. "At home we'd wash at least once a month, unless it was winter, of course, but even then my mother would…"

To Thorfinn's slight annoyance, there was no one at the bathing spot when they arrived. He realized it was a little earlier than he'd thought.

"Oh, I guess we must be here early," Einar said, seeming to read his mind. "Well, I don't mind us having it all to ourselves for a while. Hey, how far out is it safe to go?"

"There's no danger, not at this time of the year," Thorfinn said, loosening his belt and pulling off his tunic. "Don't cross to the other shore, though, it's not our master's land. You might want to wash your clothes while we're out here, too."

"Yeah, but how deep is it? I--"

He abruptly stopped talking, and that in itself was so odd that Thorfinn looked back at him. Einar was staring at him, mouth a little open. At Thorfinn's look, he seemed to catch himself a little.

"Wow, you have a lot of scars, Thorfinn." He winced. "Sorry, didn't mean it to come out like that. I'll just, um, take my clothes off."

After waiting a moment to be sure that Einar wouldn't make a mad dash for freedom, Thorfinn strode past Einar and into the river. He waded out a few yards, then plunged under the surface and swam a few strokes. He surfaced in the middle of the river, flicking wet hair out of his face.

He looked back toward the shore to see Einar standing awkwardly in waist-deep water. "Oh, Thorfinn, you can swim. I didn't know that… I can't swim, so I'll stay over here. Oh hey, do we have any soap?"

"The free men will bring it when they come." Thorfinn swam a little closer to Einar, until he could feel his feet touch the bottom. He turned onto his back, and let himself float.

Above him was blue sky with only a few white wispy clouds. Trees swayed at the edge of his sight. Thorfinn kept his eyes open, and let it all flow over him: the sky, the trees, the occasional winds that set the trees swaying and raised goosebumps on his chest, the small ripples from the flow of the river, and the larger ones from Einar's movements. He could hear Einar's voice; silent, sometimes, when he lost himself in thought or dunked his head under the water, but mostly a soft, steady complement to the sound of the river and the wind and the birds. Thorfinn's ears were half submerged, and he couldn't even clearly hear what Einar was saying, but that didn't matter. Something about his voice was oddly… soothing.

Soothing?! Thorfinn was so surprised at that thought that before he knew it he was sinking. Thrashing a bit, he reemerged a few seconds later, sputtering and feeling rather ridiculous. After he got himself under control, he dared a glance back toward Einar, who, instead of laughing, was looking very concerned.

"You're not drowning, are you?" he asked. "Because like I said, I can't swim at all, but if you're really drowning then I suppose I can give it a try. I mean, um—"

"I'm fine," Thorfinn called back, but even so he swam over to the shallow part of the river, slowing himself by catching Einar by the elbow. Einar grinned at him, and Thorfinn couldn't quite manage to pull away.

"Hey, Thorfinn?" Einar said.

"What?"

"This is a really nice place."

Thorfinn realized he was still holding on to Einar, but decided that he didn't mind. "Yeah," he said. "It is."


End file.
